Musical instrument



Jan. 25, 1966 Filed Feb. 6, 1965 I i lm' FIG! R. N. CURRIER MUS I CALINSTRUMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIGZ FIG. 3

INVENTOR ROBERT N. CURRIER @M9/MMM ATTORNEYS Jan. 25, 1966 R. N. cuRRlERMUSICAL INSTRUMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 6, 1963 NVENTOR.

ROBERT N. CURRIER WN N@ V v3 .YJ

ATTORN EYS perienced child.

United States Patent O 3,230,815 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Robert N. Currier,Ossining, N Y. (181 Grove St., Bridgeport, Conn.) Filed Feb. 6, 1963,Ser. No. 256,640 5 Claims. (Cl. 84-315) This invention relates tomusical instruments and more particularly comprises a simpliiied stringinstrument or pre-instrument to be used by young children.

The use of simple instruments in elementary school classes is highlyrecommended by prominent figures in music education. These instrumentsare introduced to children as a supplement to singing in order tobroaden their experience with music and to provide them with a happy,easy, successful relationship with instruments before the more seriousstudy of a regular instrument is begunf Today in the string family thereare available small violins, cellos, etc., but these are merelydiminutive and not simplified. The 'smaller instruments althoughintended for young students, are in many ways more difficult to lplay`than'those of full size because the strings are so close together.

Because success with string instruments generally rekquires as early astart as possible, apre-string instrument is deemed to be of particularvalue in aiding a student to obtain technical proiiciency. A pre-stringinstrument is deemed to be more important than are pre-winds andpre-percussions already available as instruments in these areas. can bestarted at a relatively late age without any sacrifice lin ultimateproficiency.

Oneimportant object of this invention is to provide la pre-stringinstrument which may be played by a youngster without iingering the lefthand.

' 'Another important object of this invention is to provide a pre-stringinstrument which enables the player to bow the lstrings eithersimultaneously to sound a chord or separately as consecutive notes.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a 'pre-'stringinstrument which may be tuned to any chord and which chord may be variedwithout iingering of the left hand.

Another important object of this invention is to provide inthe'iingerboard means which assist the ear of the player to achievecorrect intonation.

Yet'another object of this invention is to provide an instrument whichmay be played by the youngest elementary school child as an introductionto musical instruments and which will furnish musical satisfaction, andwhich may be used in the more advanced grades to teach fingering andsome of the other more intricate manipulations required of a stringplayer. y

Still another important object of this invention is to provide a stringinstrument having a particularly rugged construction so that it may beused by the most inex- To accomplish these and other objects, theinstrument of this invention includes a generally box shaped body havinga generally conventional iingerboard, taiipiece and strings, and auniquebridge disposed between the fingerboard and tailpiece. The bridge hasmeans for positi'oningy certain of the strings in either of twopositions. By placing'the stringsV in one position they al1 liesubstantially in the same plane andtherefore may be bowedsimultaneously. Alternatively, the strings may be bowed -separately whencertain or the strings are placed in the alternate position provided.The pitch of each of the strings may be varied by a tuning device whichreleasably snaps onto the iingerboard above the strings. The tuningdevice carries a moveable pad for each of the strings, and each pad isbiased to engage its string wherever it is positioned on the device. Anote scale provided on the de- 3,230,815 Patented Jan. v25, 1966 icevice Will indicate to the youngster what notes will be sounded when thepads are in any of the selected positions available.

These and other objects and features of this invention will befbetterunderstood land appreciated from the following detailed description `ofone embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shownin the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top view of a string instrument constructed in accordancewith this invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the instrument shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a portion shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side view of the instrument shown in FIGS. 1 and2 with an attachment shown mounted in place on it; and

FIG. 5 is a top view of the attachment shown in FIG. 4.

The instrument shown in the drawing includes a body 10, a fingerboard12, a tailpiece 14, a bridge 16, scroll and peg assembly 18, and strings20, 22, and 24. The ingerboard 12, tailpiece 14, and scroll and pegassembly of the instrument 18 are conventional in design as is evidentin FIGS. .1.

than blocks ordinarily employed and serve not only as supports for thetop and bottom plates 30 and 32 respectively but as the ends of the bodyas well. Ribs 34 and 36 are glued or otherwise secured to the blocks 26and 28 and the edges of the top and bottom plates 30 and 32 to form aresonant chamber. A pair of narrow sound holes 38 are provided in thetop plate 30. The straight and narrow configuration of the sound holesincreases the size of the resonating surface.

The bridge 16 disposedbetween the tailpiece 14 an the ngerboard 12,which supports the three strings 20, 22 and 2.4 above the iingerboard isshown in detail in FIG. 3. Rather than being crown-shaped as theconventional violin bridges, the bridge 16 of this invention is providedwith an upper edge having two supporting levels 42 and 44, 46. The upperlever 42 is shown to include three notches 48, 50 and S2 each designedto receive one string of the instrument because the instrument isprovided with only three strings. Preferably they are G, D and A stringswhich are common to the'entire violin family. The second level 44, 46divided on each side of the level 42 provides alternate positions forthe outer strings; that is, the string lying in notch 48 can be liftedout of the notch and positioned in the corner 54 at the inner'edge ofthe level 44 and the string which occupies notch 52 may be moved to thecorner 56 on the inner end of level 46.

' When all of the strings are positioned in the notches on the higherlevel 42 a player can bow the three strings simultaneously to sound achord. When the strings are to be bowed separately, the outside stringsare placed in the corners 54 and 56 on the lower level so that they arein different planes and are individually accessible. Thus, when theoutside strings are placed in the corners 54 and 56, the bridge 16 iseffectively curved as a conventional bridge, and when the outsidestrings are moved to the notches 48 and 52 a unique support is providedfor the strings that enables them to be bowed together.

In FIG. 4 a tuning device 60 is shown mounted on the ngerboard 12. Thedevice includes a frame 62 of substantially the same width as theiingerboard and of generally the same length. The tuner is provided withan arched support 64 at one-end which rests upon the peg box 66 beyondthe end of the ngerboard to support the plate 62 above the fingerboard.A band 67 which may be made of an elasticized webbing or some rigidmaterial is secured to the support 64 and is designed to extend aboutthe peg box 66 to retain the tuning device in the position shown in FIG.4. The other end of the tuner vincludes a pair of downwardly extendingfeet 68' which -able material land may b e provided with flanges whichextend underneath the fingerboard as suggested in FIG. 4. The band 67and clips 69 may take one of 'several con- 4tigurations and of primaryimportance is that they securely support the tuning'idevice 60 above'the fngerboardllZ.

The frame 62 of the tuner is shown in FIG. 5 to include threelongitudinally extending slots or tracks 70, 72 and 74 which are alignedwith the three strings above the bridge. Thus, if the three strings G, Dand A are conventionally arranged, slot 70 overlics the A string, sloty"JZthe D strrlg, and slot 74 the G string. Disposed in each of theslots or tracks is a slide 76composed of a tr'olly 7S, p in 80 and pad82. The trollyv78 may be `disposedpartially within yits track andcarries the pin St) which'extends through the track and' toward thefstring :beneath it. The pad"82 in turn'is carried on the end of the pin,and a spring 84 which surrounds theV pini urges the pad downwardly toengage the string yso as to control its pitch. A tab or head'v`86 ismounted on the upper end vof the pin above the trolly to provide aconvenient finger grip to vdraw the pin upwardly in vthe troll'y andaway f'frornvthe string against the bias of the spring 84. As each ofthe tracks is provided with a slide, it is obvious :two octaves abovethe base of the string. Toassist the youngster a note rule `as suggestedin FIG. maybe k'provided along each of the tracks 4to indicate the pitchwhich will'bc sounded by each of the strings when the respective slideslare positioned at any point in the tracks. vFrom the foregoing `it willbe `appreciated that the tuning device comprises a wholly detachablesuperstructure fastenedover therfin'gerboard of the instrument. Thedevice enables the instrument to be tuned to any chord or otherzse'r'iesof three notes which the child can then produce without using thefingers of the Vleftihand. The notes may be sounded simultaneouslybyusing the fiat position of the bridge, namely levell 4 2, or, in thearched position with the youtside strings in the corners ,5d and 5,6 the,strings may be bowed separately. y y

Since a great many compositions are built upon one, two or threeunderlying chords, three youngsters playing their respective`instruments could form an accompanying orchestra for a large repertoirelof songs. A director would be needed to indicate when each of theyoungsters shouldl start and `stop his particular chord. With theystrings in the arched position, namely vwith the outside strings'in thecorners ,54 and 56, a certain number of simple melodies can be played.Some simple `melodies consist of only three notes and therefore can beplayed withlon'e instrument. `'Other 'melodies can be played only by twoor three instruments each ,tuned differently. Both melodic and rhythmicsimplifications of most well known melodies are available and can beperformed with one or more instruments. i M

As the tuner is detachable from the fingerboard, the pitch of each ofthepstrings can be controlled by the fingers. VMerely by removing'theband 67 from about the peg box 66-and slipping the clips 69 fromunderneath the other end of the fingerboard the tuner may be removed toexpose the strings to allow the player to conptrol the pitch of thestrings with his fingers. In order to facilitate `locating ,the fingerscorrectly, inverse frets or grooves are provided in the fingerboard assuggested in FIGS. l and 2 at 90. In the drawing four inverse frets areshown incorporated into the fingerboard. These small grooves cut acrossthe fingerboard are shown in the close 2 3 pattern commonly used in thefirst stages of left hand manipulation. These frets are preferablybarely perceptible to the fingertips and in any case should require thecooperation of the ear to achieve correct intona tion. Because the fretsare inverted and further because the ear is required as an aid tocorrect intonation, they will not prevent the student from acquiringproper playing habits.

From the foregoing description it will be appreciated that numerousmodifications may be made on this invention without departing from itsspirit. Moreover, Iit will be appreciated that certain of the featuresof this 'invention may `be employed without others. Therefore, it is notlintended that the breadth o-f this invention be limited to thevspecific embodiment illustrated and V des,cribed. Rather, it isintended that the breadth' of :this invention be vdetermined by theappended claims and their equivalents. i

What is claimed is:

i. A string instrument comprising p a body having a iinge'rl'loardYextending from vone vend'of the body and la tailpiece mounted `atits'o'thejr ledd and having an intermediate ffbridge, three stringsextending from the outer end of the fingerboard to the tailpiece, saidbridge having twof'levels with one of said levels supporting all of thestrings'in a single plane and with the other of 'said levels adapted tosupport the outer ofthe three strings below the middle string so thatthe three strings are effectively arched so that the strings may beybowed separately, inverse frets provided in the fingerboard to serve asa i guide for positioningthe fingers,V a tuner including a framedetachably secured to the fingerboard and overlying the strings, .threeltracks formed in the frame Iand runninggenerally parallel to thestr-ings,V and means including a pad mounted in each of the track-sladapted to engage yeach of the 'strings for varying 4the pitch of' eachstring. 2. A spring instrumentas defined in claim 1 furthercharacterized by each .of the last-named means including a slide movablealong the track, a pin extending downwardly from lthe slide and carryingthe pad at its lower end, i and biasing means engaging the pad urgingthe pa against'the string beneath it. 3. A stning instrument comprisinga body having a fingerboard, strings and bridge, a tuner removablycarried by the fingerboard and extending over an appreciable portion ofitsflength, a plurality of tracks formed in the tuner andl eachoverlying one of the strings, a slide mounted in each track and movablealong the track length, a pin extending downwardly from the slide in thedirection of the string beneath, a pad carried on the end of the pin andspring biased to engage the string .beneath it, and means for overcomingthe bias of the pad for moving the pin with its pad along the track so'that the pad may engage any selected portion of the str-ing beneath thetrack. 4. A tuning device for a string instrument comprising -a bodyadapted to be detachably secured to the fingerboard of the instrument, atrack formed .in the body, a slide movable in the track and carryingapad for engaging a string of the instrument above the tingelboard,

5 6 a note rule located adjacent said track to indicate the ReferencesCited bythe Examiner pitch to be sounded yby said 4string when saidslide UNITED STATES PATENTS is positioned :at po-ints along said track,and yieldable means for biasing the pad into engage- 934,678 9/1909Lallrlall 84-307 ment with the String- 5 1,095,900 5/1914 Manby 84-'43145. A tuning device for a string instrument as defined in 1,374,388 4/1921 Reed 84-315 claim 4 further character-ized by 2,450,210 9/ 1948Sprague 85-315 said Ibody having a ytrack and slide for each string of2,739,502, 3/ 1956 Thompson 84-307 the instrument, 2,961,913 11/ 1960Popkin 84-315 X and means for moving the slides independently of one loanother. LEO SMILOW, Primary Examiner.

1. A STRING INSTRUMENT COMPRISING A BODY HAVING A FINGERBOARD EXTENDINGFROM ONE END OF THE BODY AND A TAILPIECE MOUNTED AT ITS OTHER END ANDHAVING AN INTERMEDIATE BRIDGE, THREE STRINGS EXTENDING FROM THE OUTEREND OF THE FINGERBOARD TO THE TAILPIECE, SAID BRIDGE HAVING TWO LEVELSWITH ONE OF SAID LEVELS SUPPORTING ALL OF THE STRINGS IN A SINGLE PLANEAND WITH THE OTHER OF SAID LEVELS ADAPTED TO SUPPORT THE OUTER OF THETHREE STRINGS BELOW THE MIDDLE STRING SO THAT THE THREE STRINS AREEFFECTIVELY ARCHED SO THAT THE STRINGS MAY BE BOWED SEPARATELY, INVERSEFRETS PROVIDED IN THE FINGERBOARD TO SERVE AS A GUIDE FOR POSITIONINGTHE FINGERS, A TUNER INCLUDING A FRAME DETACHABLY SECURED TO THEFINGERBOARD AND OVERLYING THE STRINGS, THREE TRACKS FORMED IN THE FRAMEAND RUNNING GENERALLY PARALLEL TO THE STRINGS, AND MEANS INCLUDING A PADMOUNTED IN EACH OF THE TRACKS ADAPTED TO ENGAGE EACH OF THE STRINGS FORVARYING THE PITCH OF EACH STRING.